Ribbon-carrying arm for manifolding typewriters



Jul 5 1927.

y H. McL. ARMISTEAD RIBBON CARRYING ARM FOR MANIFOLDING TYPEWRITERS Filed May 26. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet l BY ATTORNEYS.

July 5 1927.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 26. 1925 fim 3 I m\ v I. I I -f i WNW QN m NN I i 1 Q I 3 NM M ON owm. N -m Inn- INVENTOR I fi 46w ZL DCMQWRZM BY h /2f M wzf ATTORNEYS.

nately retiring UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

111mm m1 ABMISTE FRANCISCO, oALmonNIA, assrenon 'ro MANI- FOLD IMPBESSION OF NEVADA- 1, 34,eo-s I S CORPORATION, OF CARSON CITY, NEVADA, A. CORPORATION RIBBON-CARRYING ARM FOB MANIFOLDING TYPEWBITEBS.

. M invention relates in gener folding typewriters andnin pa that class of such machines, or at or parts thereof; which pairs of spaced arms,

Application filed Kay 26, 1925. Serial No. 32,904.

al to manirticular t0 tachments include one or more each pair bearing a manifolding member stretched between their extremities and adapted to be carried into and out of of type impact.

In such machines,

her is commonly an impression ribbon,

fitted with clips adapted connection with the arm extremessential that such ribbon be ends of which are for ready ities. It is stretched and held taut tenings. Various adopted particularly is to make the carrying expedients functional position in the line the manifolding memthe between its end fashave been with this end in view, one of which arms laterally resilient, adapting them to hold the ribbon under tension.

This, while serviceable in certain cases where no conflicing press is present tending to imp ency, is not adequate in o in those construe example,

air the ar ther cases, as,

tions wherein the ure or resistance in resilifor arms play within laterally applied guides, since in describing their eccentric path, they must in moving down retire almost completely in said guides,

in order to carry their ribbon bearing extremities to the platen and place the ribbons in the line of ty e impact;

and as at such time and in suc only the extremity of the arm p the guides, such extremit the effective tension resi iency, fined thereto by the opp as stops toany useful arms thus become prac vei their res liency feet is especially found in the arms play casing associated said casing, as, platens such as are 1,467,532 and 1,502,178 d 1923 and July 221924,

One of the objects of by providin obviate this diflicult carrying'arm of suc f time and in the very posi is most nee [y in the line of type impact. This untowar efsuch cases whereslots in a f or exampl disclose through guiding with the platen ends,

ath alterorm the,

alone carries al being conosing guides, acting tension effect. tically rigid at the tion in whic ded, namel t tEe position ects from 1 position of the ribbon.

The

said

from

a novel lateral h a cited for various assem fol i resiliency necessary for the. functionin position of the ribbon is' preserved unafl ected and unimpaired by the guides in which the arm pla s. Again, in manifolding devices of the ascribed type, the ribbon carrying arms have heretofore been made of relatively narrow, laterally resilient strips having angularly projecting free extremities to engage the end clips of the ribbons. The line of tension is, therefore, to one side of a direct line between the bodies of the arm pair which carries the ribbon, and this tends to torsion in the arms, with the effect of producing unequal strain, relativel on the two edges of the ribbon, resulting in more or less lateral buckling of said ribbon, and de arture thereof from the flatness it should have in order to yield its best impression.

Another object of my invention is to remedy this difliculty by providing a novel ribbon-carrying arm, of such form and so disposed in the general platen assembly that it is not subject to such torsion stress.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a ribbon-carrying arm specially formed and so placed in the laten assembly, that it will not interfere wit the full functional length of the platen member proper, and so mounted that it is adapted to carry and hold the ribbon in close relation to the platen surface when it is moved to the line of type impact, but without any tendency of he platen, in rotating, to disturb the true Other objects will appear in the course of the following description. I

I will state, at this point, that although improved ribbon-car ing arms are lages of maning attachments for typewriters, they are especially intended for use in connection with the type of manifolding platens disclosed in the patents. above mentioned, and I shall, therefore, illustrate and describe them in connection with the platen of the later patent, using only so much of such platen as may be necessary for a full understanding of my improvement.

In the accompanying drawings to which reference may now be made- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one of my improved ribbon-carrying arms.

ig, 2 is a perspective view showing a pair of said arms with a ribbon stretched between them.

Fig. 3 is a view of a platen to which said arms are applied, the right hand end of the platen being in longitudinal section in order to indicate the arm operating connections; the left hand end of the platen being 111 elevation, because such features as mav be associated therewith, are immaterial to an understanding of my invention.

F Fig. 4 is a section on theline 4-4 of Referring to Fig. 1, the carrying-arm indicated as a whole by the numeral 1 is a laterally resilient metallic strip comprising a body portion a. in which is a slot b, a pivotal foot portion 0, a supplementally or independently laterally resilient head loop or return bend d, a clip-receiving member e, and a body-widening extension portion The head 100 or return bend d exten s laterally from the body a to one side of the extension f, and the clip receiving member 6 extends angularly from the free extremity of said bend d in a return direction approximately parallel with and slightly higher than the top of the extension f.

In Fig. 2 a manifolding ribbon 2 is shown, with end clips 2. These clips engage the receiving members 6 of the arms 1, and the ribbon passes over the top of the body-widening extension 7, and by reason not only of the general resiliency of the arm body but also of the supplementally resilient heads or bends J, said ribbon is held under tension between the two arms.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the platen comprises a shell 3 having the usual cushion covering 4.

Through the platen extends a shaft 5' having turning knobs 6.

Associated with the platen at each end, is a casing 7, which does not partake of the rotation of the platen, the latter being mounted for independent rotation, by means of an internal bearin collar 8 journaled on a flange 9 of the casing 7, the flanges 9 of the two casings being connected by a tubular member 10. r

Independently and severally rotatable about the platen shaft 5 and within the tubular member 10 is an assemblage of nested sleeves 11, here shown as three in number, the ends of said sleeves projecting into the casin 7, and each carrying a crank arm 12 provi ed with an oppositely extending tail piece 13, Fig. 4, each of said tail pieces having a stud 14 which plays in and through a slot 15, Fig. 3, in a chamber 16 of the casin 7.

Upon fire platen shaft 5 is mounted for independent rotation a prime operating member in the shape of a sleeve 17, having connected at one end a knob 18 for turning it. The other end of the sleeve 17 extends into the chamber 16 and carries fingers 19, which are adapted to act upon the studs 14 and turn the crank arms 12.

The details included but not shown in the closure indicated by 23 at the left hand end of the platen in Fig. 3, by which the rotation of the platen is effected by the shaft 5; the details of control of the platen rotation for definite and variable line spacing, as operated by the lever 24, and the selective operation of the crank arms 12, by which a plurality of ribbons. are made possible need not be herein illustrated or described, as they'form no part of my invention, and are not necessary to a complete understanding of my improvements. It will be sufficient for my purpose to direct attention to the fact that the platen I have herein partly illustrated and described, is the platen of Patent No. 1,502,178 above mentioned, and reference ma be had to it, though I consider such re erence will not be necessary.

In the casings 7 are made the peripheral guide slots 20. Through these slots are entered my ribbon carrying-arms 1, their foot portions 0 being pivoted at 21, Fig. 4, in the casing 7 in a line eccentric to the platen axis, and their slotted bodies bein slidably connected at 22, as shown in said ig. 4, with the crank arms 12.

As indicated in Fig. 4, the ribbon-carrying arms 1 are thus adapted to be moved to carry their ribbons down to a line of type impact in front of the platen, and elevated to a position out of use, above and rearwardl of the platen, as shown b the full and otted lines, respectively, t e ribbon carrying arms 1 travelin in and sliding in and out through the peripheral guideslots 20 of the casings 7, the operation in this respect being essentially the same as that of the patent referred to.

The objects and effect of my improvements may now be demonstrated.

In the ribbon carrying arms of the prior art, the resilient feature of said arms designed to hold the ribbon under tension is due to a general lateral springiness of their entire length. It is obvious, however, that said arms playing in the guide slots 20 have their maxlmum resilience when protruding farthest from the casing, as in their elevated out-of-use position; and as they descend and retire into the casing their resilience decreases, due to the conflicting walls of the slots, until when they arrive at their lower position, the line of type impact, their effective resilience becomes ractically nil. This is not as it should be, or it is in this latter position such resilience is most needed in order to hold the ribbon under proper tension when in use.

In my carrying-arm 1, the lateral resilience due to the general length-s ringi- 'nem is still present, in order to ena le the lit arm, and this tends to torsion in the .arm,

which produces unequal tension on the sides of the ribbon inclining it to buckle or become distorted from a desirable flatness and smoothness.

In m improved arm, this is remedied by the b0 y-widening extension f underlying the plane of the ribbon, and centered with the line of ribbon tension, said extension being so placed on the arm body that it lies and plays in the slot 20 and is held against torsion y the slot walls.

Although as far as the foregoing advan tages of my improved ribbon-carrying arms are concerned, the spring-loops or bends d of said arms may be turned either inwardly over the platen, or as herein shown turned outwardly over the casing 7, I find that in the latter arrangement a two fold advantage is had, in that first the entire length of the platen is freefrom interference of the arms,

and that, second, by making the casings 7 of slightly smaller diameter than the platen, as shown in Fig. 3, the clip receiving extremities of the arms may be brought down to a slightly lower plane than the surface of the platen thus bringing the ribbons down. in very close relation to said platen, and since the casings 7 to which the arm extremities are brought down closely, do not rotate with the platen, there is no tendency of the platen revolution frictionally disturbing said arms or the position of the ribbons when in use.

I claim 1. A ribbon-carrying arm for manifolding ty ewriters comprising a stri the body of which below one of its ends being wid sued to one side, and a ribbon-receiving member carried by said end and extending therefrom opposite to and spaced from the widened body of the strip.

2. A ribbon-carrying arm for manifolding typewriters, comprising a laterally resilient strip having at one end a supplementally laterally resilient member, the body of the strip below said member being widened toone side; and a ribbon-receiving member carried by said resilient member and extending therefrom opposite to and spaced from the widened body of the strip.

3. A ribbon-carrying arm for manifol loop or bend never in any.

ing typewriters comprising a strip, one of the ends of which is formed with a return bend resilient in a plane transverse to its axis of fiexure, the body of said strip below said bend being widened to one side thereof, and a ribbon-receiving member carried by the free extremity of said resilient bend and thence extending in a plane parallel with said axis opposite to and spaced from the widened body of the strip.

4. A ribbon-carrying arm for manifolding typewriters comprising a slotted strip having'at one end a foot adapted for the mounting of the arm for swinging movement, and at its opposite end a laterally resilient return bend, the body of said stri below the bend bein widened to one si e thereof, and a ribbon-receiving member carried bythe 'free extremity of said resilient bend and thence extending opposite to and spaced from the widened body of the strip.

5. In a inanifolding typewriter, the combination of a platen; a manifolding ribbon associated therewith and adapted for movement to and from a position in the line of type impact; a pair of spaced arms associated with the platen and carrying the ribbon 1 between their extremities, each of said arms comprising a laterally resilient strip having at one of its ends a su'pplementally laterally resilient member and a ribbon receivin member carried by said supplemental resilient member; means for mounting each arm by its other end for swinging movement; fixed guides in which said arms have both arcuate and linear movement; and means for operating said arms.

' 6. In a manifolding typewriter, the combination of a platen; a manifolding ribbon associated therewith and adapted for movement to and from a position in the line of type impact; a pair of spaced arms associated with the platen and carrying the ribbon between their extremities, each of said arms comprising a strip one of the ends of which is formed with a laterally resilient return bend and a ribbon-receiving member carried by the free extremity of said resilient bend; means for mounting each arm at its other end for swinging movement; fixed guides in which said arms have both arcuate and linear movement; and means foroperating said arms.

7. In a lnanifolding typewriter, the combination of a platen; a manifolding ribbon associated therewith and adapted for movement to and from a position in the line of type impact; a pair of spaced arms associated with the platen and carrying the ribbon between their extremities, each of said arms comprising a strip havin one of its ends laterally resilient, the body of the strip below said end being widened to one side thereof and a ribbon-receiving member car- Ill) ried by said end and extending therefrom opposite to and spaced from the widened body of the strip; means for mounting each arm at its other end for swinging movement; fixed'guides in which said arms have both arcuate and linear movement; and means for operating said arms.

8. In a manifolding typewriter, the combination of a platen; a manifolding ribbon associated therewith and adapted for movement to and from a position in the line of type impact; a pair of spaced arms associated with the platen and carrying the ribbon between their extremities, each of said arms comprising a strip one of the ends of which is formed with a laterally resilient return bend, the body of the stri below said bend being widened to one si e thereof, and a ribbonreceiving member carried by the free extremity of said resilient bend and thence extending opposite to and spaced from the widened body of the strip; means for mount ing each arm at its other end for swinging movement; fixed guides in which said arms have both arcuate and linear movement; and means for operating said arms.

9. In a manifolding typewriter having a platen with associated arm-guides and a manifolding ribbon adapted for movement to and from the line of type impact; a pair of spaced laterally resilient arms carrying said ribbon, mounted for both arcuate and linearmovement in said guides, the ribboncar -ing extremities of said arms lying beon the guides and having supplemental aterally resilient members.

10. In a manifoldin typewriter having a platen with associate arm-guides and a "manifolding ribbon adapted for movement to and from the line of type impact; a pair of spaced laterally resilient arms carryin said -ribbon, mounted for both arcuate and linear movement in said guides, the ribbon-' carrying extremities of said arms at their outer ends beyond the plane of the ribbon having a return bend resilient in a plane transverse to its axis of flexure.

11. In a manifolding typewriter having a platen with associated arm guiding slots and a manifolding ribbon adapted for movement to and from the line of type impact; a pair of spaced arms carrying said ribbon,

mounted for both arcuate and linear movement'in said guiding slots, the ribbon-carrying extremities of said arms beyond the plane of the ribbon being formed with a laterally resilient return bend and a ribbon receiving member extending to one side of said bend, and the body of the arm opposite said ribbon receiving member being widened and adapted to coact with the guide slot to resist torsion stress in the arm and to hold the ribbon fiat under equal tension.

12. In a manifolding typewriter having a platen with an associated peripherally slotted casing at each end, anda manifolding ribbon adapted for movement to and from the line of type impact; a pair of laterally resilient spaced arms carrying said ribbon and mounted for movement in the slots of the casings, said arms at their outer extremities being formed with supplementally laterally resilient portions extending in a direction away from the platen ends.

13. In a manifolding typewriter having a platen; a peripherally slotted casing associated with each end of the platen and of smaller diameter than said platen; a pair of spaced arms mounted for movement in the slots or the casings, said arms at their outer extremities-being formed with laterally resilient bends extending in a direction away from the platen ends; and a manifolding ribbon carried by and between the resilient bends of said arms-and adapted to be moved to and from the line of'type impact.

In testimony whereof I have signed my nameto this specification.

HUBERT MoL. ARMISTEAD.

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